E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Centaurea cyanus L.
cornflower (bachelor's-button; garden cornflower)
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Stephanie Rivest  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #88495)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Centaurea cyanus
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Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, branched, loosely hairy, 0.2-1.2 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves linear to lanceolate, entire or with a few teeth and narrow lobes towards the base, white-woolly below, up to 13 cm long and 1 cm wide, soon deciduous; stem leaves similar, reduced and narrower upwards.
Flowers:
Heads discoid, several to many, solitary at the ends of ascending branches; disk flowers usually blue, sometimes purple, pink or white, the sterile marginal ones about 18 mm long, enlarged apically with 5 lobes, the central ones perfect and about 15 mm long; involucres 20-25 mm tall, 12-15 mm wide; involucral bracts egg-shaped or lanceolate, grooved, with a darkened, tattered fringe at the tips, glabrous.
Fruits:
Achenes compressed, with appressed, soft hairs, 3.5-4 mm long; pappus of numerous, strongly graduated brown bristles.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry roadsides in the lowland and montane zones; infrequent in S BC; introduced from the Mediterranean region.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Centaurea cyanus

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 745 745 745
Slope Gradient (%) 52 52 52
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
150 149 150
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 2 2
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
1
Modal BEC Zone Class
ICH
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: ICH(1)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Leucacantha cyanus (L.) Nieuwl. & Lunell

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References